If a man wanted to bury "tens of thousands" of rounds of ammunition, what would be the most effective container that would preserve the ammunition for decades? I've seen those small plastic vaults but don't want to have to buy 100 containers @ $20 each.Thanks.

How about old disposed 7 gallon pool chlorine buckets with snap on lids? Load them, then drop a small cube of dry ice into them and put the lid on, but don't snap it all the way shut. The CO2 will displace the air from the bottom up and once it stops gassing, snap down the lid and you've got an oxygen free, inert, sealed container.

Any reason not to buy 4" PVC pipe, glue on an end cap, fill with ammo, glue on another end cap and bury? Granted the pipe would have to be cut open but that can easily be done without damaging the ammunition. I could use a screw in end cap but that would have leak potential whereas the glued cap would not.

The PVC tube is the preferred option for many. No reason why you would have to stop at 4" though. I've seen much larger pipes lying around on job sites I've done work at. Personally I like the idea of packing ammo in vacuum sealed bags (like those used for storing food - good to have around for that reason, too) and then packing the bags in PVC tubes. Another way to go would be wrapping ammo cans in grease paper and then loading them into a wooden crate or plastic bin.

Of course, you could always call up FEMA and ask if you could have some of their plastic mass grave liners. Those wouldn't necessarily be bad for burying large amounts of ammo in. (Joke)

"It is demonstrable that power structures tend to attract people who want power for the sake of power and that a significant proportion of such people are imbalanced — in a word, insane.” – Frank Herbert

I've been considering a way to connect a standard HVAC service valve to the pipe and then using my commercial vacuum pump to pump it down into a vacuum. My only issue would be a way to seal the service valve to the PVC pipe.

Roto molded liquid tanks for direct burial come in all sizes, and you can have a sealed man-hatch on the top. http://www.denhartogindustries.com/wp-c ... 96x299.jpgYou could have one big enough to climb down in. And hide? Oxygen could be purged with dry ice, or supplied with a 12 volt pump.You might need a backhoe.You could fabricate a .50 cal machine gun mount.

Plastic bags won't last decads.Even the oxygen inside the vacuumed plastic bags should be purged.Oxygen is an oxidizer, meaning it will promote corrosion. And degradation of most materials.The oxygen component of dry ice (CO2) is attached to the carbon component and therefore is not available for oxidation.Most plastics are not oxygen impervious, oxygen molecules will slowly pass through.Even the roto molded tanks will pass oxygen until inside and outside reach equilibrium. Some coatings will slow the migration.